Count
Basie – "One O’Clock Jump" features original recordings
by the Basie band between 1936 –1939. It was full of key figures including
Lester Young, Herschel Evans, Buck Clayton, Eddie Durham, Dicky Wells,
Walter Page, Jo Jones and Freddy Green. Jimmy ‘Mr. Five-by-Five’ Rushing
who stayed with the band until 1948 sings on seven tracks and Helen
Humes takes the vocal responsibility on Dark Rapture.

The
sound made by the Basie band was authentic and the rhythm section
of Basie, Page and Jones, later augmented with Freddy Green, was renowned
for its balance and cohesion. This formed a base for the many talented
soloists within the orchestra. Although there is nothing new here,
Naxos have gone to great lengths to reproduce these early recordings
ensuring that they achieve ‘the best and truest sound that contemporary
technology can provide.’

In
such compilations it would have been remiss of the producers to exclude
Basie’s classic hits such as One O’Clock Jump, Swinging The Blues
and Jumpin’ At TheWoodside but all twenty tracks
have their individual qualities. In the accompanying notes Peter Dempsey
sums things up by saying that by 1938, ‘the Basie Orchestra had assumed
its rightful niche as one of the leading big-bands of the Swing Era.’
This CD captures the qualities of an excellent orchestra that excited
fans for more than forty years.